* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Management Communication About Ethics
Cosmopolitanism wikipedia , lookup
Individualism wikipedia , lookup
Virtue ethics wikipedia , lookup
Ethics of eating meat wikipedia , lookup
Aristotelian ethics wikipedia , lookup
Kantian ethics wikipedia , lookup
J. Baird Callicott wikipedia , lookup
Sexual ethics wikipedia , lookup
Bernard Williams wikipedia , lookup
Lawrence Kohlberg wikipedia , lookup
Medical ethics wikipedia , lookup
Accounting ethics wikipedia , lookup
Ethics of technology wikipedia , lookup
Marketing ethics wikipedia , lookup
Consequentialism wikipedia , lookup
Alasdair MacIntyre wikipedia , lookup
Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development wikipedia , lookup
Critique of Practical Reason wikipedia , lookup
Morality throughout the Life Span wikipedia , lookup
Moral disengagement wikipedia , lookup
Moral development wikipedia , lookup
Arthur Schafer wikipedia , lookup
Morality and religion wikipedia , lookup
Organizational technoethics wikipedia , lookup
Moral relativism wikipedia , lookup
Jewish ethics wikipedia , lookup
Compliance and ethics program wikipedia , lookup
Moral responsibility wikipedia , lookup
Business ethics wikipedia , lookup
Ethical intuitionism wikipedia , lookup
Thomas Hill Green wikipedia , lookup
Management Communication About Ethics The Difficulties of Managing for Ethics Vocabulary: “Business Ethics” •What is “Business” ? •What is “Ethics” ? Business is inherently social • Business has its own culture • Enron, Paypal, your office • Business Transforms Culture • Kiewit, FNB, community outreach • Business is about relationships • Workers, subcontractors, suppliers Business: Its purpose/goal • Lone Ranger/I am an Island View: The purpose of business is to make me money, and increase stockholder value (Milton Friedman) Alternate Stakeholder View: • Business should make money, but it has many stakeholders– groups/individuals who have a stake in what the business does. Owners are not the only one’s with a stake (Freeman) Your business behavior makes the world Better or Worse for people: • The way you treat your customers • The way you treat your employees or coworkers or patients • The way you treat your boss/company • The way you contribute to the local community Responsibilities in Business: • • • • • • • To your employer To Customers To employees To boss/es To your community To your family To your God “Ethics” isn’t “legal” Difference between the Law and Ethics: • Some legal issues are neither ethical or unethical. • Some ethical issues have no laws to support them. • Law often tries to encourage ethical behavior: – Better to have self-regulation than more gov’t regulations Compliance with Laws SWEET SPOT Compliance and Ethics Program Ethical Behavior Ethics and Regulation • Government regulation often is designed to promote ethical behavior: – SOX – OSHA Regulations – EPA Regulations – Federal Sentencing Guidelines Federal Sentencing Guidelines • 1. Having Standards • 2. Assigned Responsibility - Adequate Resources • 3. Due diligence in Hiring • 4. Communications and Training • 5. Monitoring, Auditing, Reporting • 6. Promotion and Enforcement of Ethical Conduct • 7. Reasonable Steps to Prevent Misconduct Company Ethics • Company Policy often has some basis in the compliance regulations and legal statutes and fine schedules set up by government. • But Personal ethics requires personal decision-making, rooted in values. Many think Ethics is just about what to NOT do: “Don’t do __!!” But ethics is more than just what not to do • Minimal: What we shouldn’t do • Don’t steal, don’t kill, don’t lie • Better: What we should do (justice) • Be fair, Be honest, Fulfill duties, work hard • Best: What we could do to make things excellent for all of us… • Mutual of Omaha Project, Real Estate The Point is: Realize the good you do in society! • Businesses do have an effect on society and culture. Business is not just about making money. Moral Psychology WHY DO PEOPLE DO WRONG THINGS? Milgram Experiment Question: Why do Soccer mom’s sometimes drive like jerks? Question: Why do people forge signatures and documents? Why do people stretch or edit the truth, or exaggerate? Moral Development: Why do people do unethical things? • Why did the soccer mom drive like a jerk? • Why did my student cheat on the exam? • Why did people at Enron do unethical things? • Why do subcontractors cut corners? Some reasons people do wrong: • • • • • • • • • • Ignorant In a hurry Thoughtless Didn’t plan ahead Financial difficulties Pressure from organization Not clear communication from management Lazy Want a quick buck They are a Bad evil wicked person More Moral Psychology: WHY DO PEOPLE DO THE RIGHT THINGS? Kohlberg’s theory of moral development • • • • • • Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Stage 2: For self-benefit Stage 3: For sake of reputation (good boy) Stage 4: Maintain Social order Stage 5: Contractual-Legalistic orientation Stage 6: Conscience/Principle Orientation Moral Principles for Living and Working • • • • • Banker Friend: “look in the mirror rule” Showgirl from Las Vegas: Grandma rule Golden Rule: do unto others… Silver Rule: do no harm… What rules do you use?.... Business Ethics Issues • • • • • • Fraud Abusive Behavior/Harassment Conflicts of interest Defective products Bribery Theft (patents, copyrights, etc) Guiding Questions • Questions to help decide if the situation or decision has ethical dimensions – Is it legal but unethical? – Is it necessary? – Does it involve a core ethical principle such as honesty, integrity, truthfulness, etc.? Guiding Questions: Info • Information gathering questions – Who are the stakeholders and what are their rights? – Consider the source, reliability, and accuracy of all relevant information. – Who should be involved in this decision? – Do I have enough information to make a sound ethical decision? If not, how do I get it? Questions to help identify and evaluate alternatives – Am I rationalizing to justify what I want to do? – Am I using anyone for my own personal gain? (Who will be injured and how) – Are there conflicting loyalties to stakeholders? – What would result in the long run if everyone did this? Guiding Questions: Conclusion • Questions that help in reaching a decision – Could I defend my position before the Board of Directors, the CEO, or the media? – What would ______________________ do? (Fill in the name of the best role model you know.) – Will this seem to be the right decision a year from now? Five years from mow? – Do I have the moral courage to take the more ethical course of action? (Am I willing to pay the price for my convictions?) Moral Muteness • The fact that managers rarely talk about ethics directly. Managers talk instead about: – a. organizational interests – b. practicality – c. economic good sense In reality, many of their decisions are actually guided by • a. morally defined standards codified in law • b. professional conventions • c. social mores And they defend moral activities such as: • a. service to customers • b. effective cooperation among personnel • c. use of resources for company’s benefit Go it Alone: • Managers struggle with ethical issues, but don’t talk to one another about it much: • “Morality is a live topic for individual managers but it is close to a non-topic among groups of managers.” Communication& Follow-Through are Essential • While normative expectations are explicitly given through legal rulings, regulatory agencies decrees, professional codes, organizational policies and social mores, if these are not communicated well, and acted upon, the message will not get out. What is communicated? Ethics Materials: Mission Values Code of conduct/ethics Policies Decision methods Your culture Ethics program: Who is the Ethics Officer? How to make contact? Senior Management Commitment to Ethics: Why organizational ethics matters? Methods of Communication Evaluate current ethics communication lines – Formal and informal – downward, upward, and two way Clear, consistent, credible messages across communication lines More about Methods of Communication Hiring Announcements Website Email Brochures Meetings – Formal & Informal Orientation sessions Newsletters Manuals Code Handbooks w/certifications Badges and Wallet Cards Key Fobs Causes of Moral Muteness: • 1. Threat to Harmony: moral talk often requires some challenge and confrontation Causes of Moral Muteness: • 2. Threat to efficiency: • a. if done with ideological exhortations it • i. does not facilitate problem solving • • ii. doesn’t usually clarify issues iii. seems self-serving Causes of Moral Muteness: • Threat to Efficiency (cont’d): • b. moral talk adds an extra burden to business decisions—seen as distraction • c. Adds additional rules and regulations, may hinder quick decisions Causes of Moral Muteness: 3. Threat to image of Power and Effectiveness • a. moral ideals highlight imperfections in current practices • b. managers don’t want to expose their own moral illiteracy • c. lower managers are expected to solve their own problems Consequences of Moral Muteness • 1. Moral Amnesia: forget that ethics is part of business • Ex: Milton Friedman acts as though business should be concerned only with profit, not social responsibility, yet he alludes to 8 important ethical issues: no fraud, no deceit, fair competition, respect law, respect contracts, recognize employee and investor rights, maximize consumer satisfaction and freedom Consequences of Moral Muteness • 2. Narrowed conception of morality: Discuss business only in terms of strategy and common sense, and avoid discussing the ethical reasons for the decision. Ethics is construed to be only for the severely immoral—rules to punish breakers. Consequences of Moral Muteness • 3. Moral Stress: managers who don’t discuss the ethical issues will have more stress that they internalize Consequences of Moral Muteness • 4. Neglect of Abuses: Many moral issues are simply not organizationally recognized and addressed. “Many moral abuses are ignored, many moral ideals are not pursued, and many moral dilemmas remain unresolved.” Consequences of Moral Muteness • 5. Decreased authority of moral standards: The less we talk about it, the less those standards will seem real. Not Just Cheerleading • Charismatic Leadership and forceful commands bring about short term change, but long term changes require shared values which provide a common vocabulary for identifying and resolving problems. How to make Changes • Must provide an opportunity for open discussion without any danger of retribution or corporate punishment. Making Changes • 2. Important to help all involved realize that they hold similar long-run objectives and value common principles – Help make shared commitments seem basic/core – Less likely to become contentious if unity is emphasized – Legitimate dissent will be more cordial and controlled if ground-rules are set up first. Making Change Happen 3. Role of Senior Managers: – Must demand that these ethical conversations take place – Need to build these into fabric of organizational life – Interventions require patience Management Creates a Culture Management is All About Ethics • “Typically, unethical business practice involves the tacit, if not explicit, cooperation of others and reflects the values, attitudes, beliefs, language, and behavioral patterns that define an organization’s operating culture. Ethics, then, is as much an organizational as a personal issue. Managers who fail to provide proper leadership and to institute systems that facilitate ethical conduct share responsibility with those who conceive, execute, and knowingly benefit from corporate misdeeds.” WHAT GREAT LEADERS DO MOST - the most commonly expressed demands Gallup Organization VISIONING 7 D E M A N D S MENTORING BUILD A CONSTITUENCY CHALLENGING EXPERIENCES MAKING SENSE OF EXPERIENCES STABILIZING VALUES KNOWING SELF Values Gallup Organization “The true test of character is how we behave when we don’t know what to do.” John Holt Communication Gallup Values We have an obligation to communicate. Here, we take the time to talk with one another and to listen. We believe that information is meant to move and that information moves people. Respect We treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. We do not tolerate abusive or disrespectful treatment. Integrity We work with customers and prospects openly, honestly, and sincerely. When we say we will do something, we will do it. When we cannot or will not do something, then we won’t do it. Excellence We are satisfied with nothing less than the very best in everything we do. We will continue to raise the bar for everyone. The great fun here will be for all of us to discover just how good we can really be. Tone at the Top Gallup Organization The challenge at the top is to lead in accordance with the true values of the organization. If your organization does not have an entrenched value system, don’t claim that you do. Just writing it down doesn’t make it so. Enforcement • Reality: Codes and rules without enforcement and adherence are useless. • Question: How do we ensure compliance with legal rules and corporate policies? Types of Enforcement The best policy is to prevent wrongdoing 1. Getting Compliance (preventative) • • • • Training and Education (‘I didn’t know’) Review: Audit for compliance and quality Incentives: compensation and recognition Model: Leadership talks, and walks the talk 2. Punishment (responsive) • • • Clear Sanctions in place Ethics Committee (method in place) Someone with oversight responsibility Summary • Avoid Moral Muteness through Communication • Good leadership will help create a strong corporate culture of ethics/compliance • Talking the talk and walking the walk both are essential Final Thoughts • Often, doing the right thing is clear, even if its not easy • We tend to cut corners for short-term apparently inconsequential issues, but this can come back to haunt us • Having Ethical Habits takes practice, and some thoughtfulness.